Roundup: The Reviews Are in (Again), and They Are No Less Kind to the GOP Budget This Time Around

As the Republican budget once again takes center stage, we here in the Democratic Whip Press Shop wanted to make sure you saw the latest round of criticism for their misguided plan that would raise costs for seniors while protecting tax breaks for the wealthy.

But don’t just take our word for it.

Just ask Republican David Stockman, the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan. His op-ed this week in the New York Times offers some harsh words on Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, which protects the wealthiest at the expense of lower and middle class Americans.

Here are the highlights:

“Mr. Ryan’s sonorous campaign rhetoric about shrinking Big Government and giving tax cuts to “job creators” (read: the top 2 percent) will do nothing to reverse the nation’s economic decline and arrest its fiscal collapse.”

“Instead, it shreds the measly means-tested safety net for the vulnerable: the roughly $100 billion per year for food stamps and cash assistance for needy families and the $300 billion budget for Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled. Shifting more Medicaid costs to the states will be mere make-believe if federal financing is drastically cut.”

“Like his new boss, Mr. Ryan has no serious plan to create jobs.”

“In short, Mr. Ryan’s plan is devoid of credible math or hard policy choices. And it couldn’t pass even if Republicans were to take the presidency and both houses of Congress. Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan have no plan to take on Wall Street, the Fed, the military-industrial complex, social insurance or the nation’s fiscal calamity and no plan to revive capitalist prosperity — just empty sermons.”

Speaking of shredding the safety net, as this Bloomberg article explains, Ryan’s plan includes drastic and devastating cuts to our country’s social programs:

“Ryan’s plan would make it difficult to maintain these services because it calls for $800 billion in cuts over the next decade, which would be a one-third reduction in projected spending.”

“By 2050, his proposed budget would cut Medicaid funding in half, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, while demand for services is projected to climb as the baby-boom generation reaches old age.”

In addition to the Ryan plan’s harmful cuts, his math simply doesn’t add up, as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says in an Op-ed:

“Ryan’s much-touted plan, far from being a real solution, relies crucially on stuff that is just pulled out of thin air — huge revenue increases from closing unspecified loopholes, huge spending cuts achieved in ways not mentioned.”

We couldn’t agree more. It’s time for Republicans to work with Democrats towards a balanced, bipartisan financial plan that offers real solutions to our fiscal challenges and creates jobs for Americans.